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Sheriff: Polk eighth grader arrested for bringing gun to school

POLK CONTY, Fla. — A Poinciana teen was arrested after deputies say he brought a loaded gun to Lake Marion Creek Middle School on Wednesday.

Deputies arrested a 14-year-old student after they say he brought a loaded handgun to school and had threatened to shoot a teacher.

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According to deputies, a witness told school administrators that the student had said he was “going to shoot up the school and shoot a teacher first.”

After the student was removed from the classroom, a school resource deputy asked if he had a gun on him.

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Investigators said the boy admitted to the deputy that he did have a handgun tucked into his waistband.

When deputies searched the student , they found an unloaded handgun and a magazine with one bullet in it.

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Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd called the student who reported the gun to administrators “a hero.”

“The child who immediately reported this crime to school administrators is our hero — he heard something and immediately said something. There is no telling what this eighth grader might have done otherwise,” Judd said.

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The teen was charged with possession of a firearm on school property, grand theft of a firearm, carrying a concealed firearm, and unlawful possession of a firearm by a minor.

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Matt Reeser

Matt Reeser, WFTV.com

Matt Reeser joined WFTV in 1998 as a news photographer and has worked for television stations in Kentucky and West Virginia.